Pages

Monday, July 21, 2014

Artists from all over the world have come together each week to share their answers to the following questions along with photos of their work and more.

I'm almost hesitant to call myself an artist when I consider my company. There are so many insanely talented ladies in my circles who have amazing vision and talent. I was really flattered that Amber Button of Crafty Button Design would even consider me as part of this project. And OH-EM-GEE, people...I'm sending you on to the incomparable Anna Aspnes.

How does your
creative process work?

To start off, it would probably help to know that I'm primarily a digital artist. More specifically, I create digital scrapbook products. A lot of my original work evolves from curating ephemera to incorporate into my shabby eclectic style and from getting messy with paint and inks in the craft room. I scan everything and then use Photoshop and Illustrator to create brushes and overlays.

I'm just going to put this out there. I'm not really creative. Not in the same sense that most artistic people are. I'm extremely left-brained. Everything to me is linear and formulaic. I'm pretty smart, and not only do I learn things quickly, but I am also able to recall formulas, rules, etc. to output "art" that meets my current objective.

Do I experiment? Sure. It's part of the learning process. I do a lot of work in Photoshop, and I'm constantly playing with variables of filters, blend modes, etc. and observing the results. Occasionally, I find a new or better way to do something or I stumble upon an entirely "new" idea.

My work

You can see my work here. I've been designing digital scrapbook products since October 2007, and I've been at Sweet Shoppe Designs since May 2009. I work with talented, motivated ladies who really help keep me working on my craft and being the best version of myself.

How does your work
differ from others of its genre?

Unlike the paper craft industry, there aren't many digital designers who do the romantic, shabby chic style. And because I love mixed media so much, I tend to merge the styles. Here are a couple of my products that really showcase my style:

I'm also in lots of classes and groups: One Little Word, Life Book 2014, The Documented Life Project and more. I don't stay up-to-date with the lessons, but I love that they are there for me when I'm ready to sit and play.

Why do you do what
you do?

I originally started as an extension of telling my stories. I think I kept doing it because I enjoy the learning process and I like pretty things. I like the process of having a vision realized. And I LOVE that people use my art to help tell their own stories.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

I really love working with Steph and the gals at The Daily Digi and was thrilled to create this kit for The Digi Files this month. You can swing by and check out my feature there, enter for a chance to win $10 to my store, listen to a little podcast interview, and grab a coupon code for 30% off your next purchase!

If scrapbooking isn't your thing, and you just want to hear the interview, you can listen here or access it through iTunes.

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

If you love clustering as much as I do, then you may be like I once was, spending oodles of time opening up all the delicious elements and dragging them one by one onto my canvas. One day, I finally had an ah-ha moment and realized there is a much simpler way to do this if you use Photoshop.

First, I Go to Files > Scripts > Load Files into Stack

This will bring up a dialog box that looks like this

I hit the browse button and find the folder on my computer that has all the ellies that I want to play with.

Hit okay and then get another dialog box that looks like this:

Hit okay and then let the computer do all the work. You end up with something like this:

We're almost there. Open up your main background paper. Then go back to the stacked elements and go to your layers palette. Select all the layers:

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Hope you enjoy all the fun sales and events this weekend. I'm excited to be guesting at ScrapMatters this month, and I'm starting out the festivities with a little Christmas spirit.

Of course, you can save a little when you buy them together!

Did you swing by for the Parade? If you're following the Parade route from start to finish, you should have arrived here from Gennifer Bursettand your next stop will be Sweet Caroline Studio (or here if you don't use Facebook). If you get lost along the way, simply head back to the main DigiScrap Parade site to view the master list and get back on track."

Friday, September 20, 2013

As some of you know, our family recently entered a new chapter as our daughter began her transition into adulthood with her college education at the University of Texas at Austin. I have been a hot mess of emotions for the past year as we anticipated and prepared for it, feeling everything from sadness and anxiety to excitement and pride. I am mostly thrilled for my {not so} little girl as she spreads her wings and leaves the nest.

Of course, I had to channel some of my sentiments into my creative work, thus the evolution of my latest kit: There She Goes. The title may sound familiar to those of you who follow my self-portrait journey, and it's related in the sense that we are all on our own personal journeys of self-discovery and learning to appreciate our uniqueness and gifts. And as my daughter steps gently onto this new path, I continue my own trek to being the best version of myself, owning my strengths and weaknesses, nurturing my gifts and remembering my unique calling to be Krystal in all of my roles, including the mother of a college student.

You can purchase the kit here. You can see wonderful creative inspiration here. Feel free to pin and share my Happy Share Square.

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

I'm super excited to be a guest at SHCO for their birthday month. I hope you'll enjoy the rare opportunity to grab commercial use versions of my products. Scroll down to get your FREEBIE and the next link on the train!
New this week:

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

There's a new freebie "train" in town. Designers from some of the industry's top stores have started the DigiScrap Parade. You can learn more here. You can find my little micro kit on my Facebook page, along with the link to the next person in the parade.